Investigating the Use of Magnetic Nanoparticles As Alternative Sintering Agents in Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D Printing of Oral Tablets

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a single-step, three-dimensional printing (3DP) process that is gaining momentum in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical dosage forms. It also offers opportunities for manufacturing various pharmaceutical dosage forms with a wide array of drug delivery systems. This research aimed to introduce carbonyl iron as a multifunctional magnetic and heat conductive ingredient for the fabrication of oral tablets containing isoniazid, a model antitubercular drug, via SLS 3DP process. Furthermore, the effects of magnetic iron particles on the drug release from the SLS printed tablets under a specially designed magnetic field was studied. Optimization of tablet quality was performed by adjusting SLS printing parameters. The independent factors studied were laser scanning speed, hatching space, and surface/chamber temperature. The responses measured were printed tablets' weight, hardness, disintegration time, and dissolution performance. It has been observed that, for the drug formulation with carbonyl iron, due to its inherent thermal conductivity, sintering tablets required relatively lower laser energy input to form the tablets of the same quality attributes as the other batches that contained no magnetic particles. Also, printed tablets with carbonyl iron released 25% more drugs under a magnetic field than those without it. It can be claimed that magnetic nanoparticles appear as an alternative conductive material to facilitate the sintering process during SLS 3DP of dosage forms.

Green quantitative spectrofluorometric analysis of rupatadine and montelukast at nanogram scale using direct and synchronous techniques

Two green-sensitive spectrofluorometric methods were investigated for assay of rupatadine (RUP) [method I] and its binary mixture with montelukast (MKT) [method II]. Method I depends on measuring native fluorescence of RUP in the presence of 0.10 M H2SO4 and 0.10%w/v sodium dodecyl sulfate at 455 nm after excitation at 277 nm. The range of the first method was 0.20-2.00 µg ml-1 with detection and quantitation limits of 59.00 and 179.00 ng ml-1, respectively. Method II depends on the first derivative synchronous spectrofluorometry. The derivative intensities were measured for the two drugs in an aqueous solution containing Mcllvaine's buffer pH 2.60 at fixed Δλ of 140 nm. Each drug was estimated at zero-contribution of the other. The intensity was measured at 261 and 371 nm for RUP and MKT, respectively. The method was linear over 0.10-4.00 and 0.20-1.60 µg ml-1 with limits of detection 31.00 and 66.00 ng ml-1 and limits of quantitation 94.00 and 200.00 ng ml-1 for RUP and MKT, respectively. The method was extended to determine this mixture in laboratory-prepared mixtures and combined tablets. Method validation was performed according to ICH guidelines. Statistical interpretation of data revealed good agreement with the comparison method. Method greenness was confirmed by applying three different assessment tools.

Lacidipine: review of analytical methods developed for pharmaceutical dosage forms and biological fluids

Lacidipine (LAC) is a calcium antagonist used in the treatment of hypertension. It is a lipophilic drug containing dihydropyridine ring that is responsible for the activity. This review article gives an overview of various analytical techniques proposed for the determination of LAC in pharmaceutical dosage forms, in pure form, in biological fluids and to determine characteristics of LAC in modified release dosage forms. Ultra violet/visible spectrophotometric, spectroflourimetric, high performance liquid chromatography, high performance thin layer chromatography, electro-analytical, bioanalytical and miscellaneous methods such as microbiological assay, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, were discussed. Various parameters such as system suitability, selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection, limit of quantification and robustness have been discussed for the employed methods.

Investigating the interaction of terbinafine with xanthenes dye for its feasible determination applying the resonance Rayleigh scattering technique

Terbinafine hydrochloride is a potent antifungal drug indicated for oral and topical treatment of mycoses. A resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) method was developed for the determination of terbinafine hydrochloride through a feasible complexation reaction with erythrosine B. In a weakly acidic medium (acetate buffer, pH 5.0), terbinafine hydrochloride can react with erythrosine B through the electrostatic attraction and virtue of hydrophobic force to form an ion-association complex. The reaction resulted in the appearance of a new RRS peak at 369 nm. The RRS peak was increased by increasing the concentration of terbinafine hydrochloride in the linear range of 0.1-1.5 µg ml-1. All the reaction conditions (erythrosine B concentration, buffer volume, diluting solvent and pH) were optimized. The detection limit was 0.029 µg ml-1 while the quantitation limit was 0.089 µg ml-1. The suggested method after its validation was successfully applied for the determination of terbinafine hydrochloride in different pharmaceutical formulations (tablets and cream) with sufficient recovery.

Materials for pharmaceutical dosage forms: molecular pharmaceutics and controlled release drug delivery aspects

Controlled release delivery is available for many routes of administration and offers many advantages (as microparticles and nanoparticles) over immediate release delivery. These advantages include reduced dosing frequency, better therapeutic control, fewer side effects, and, consequently, these dosage forms are well accepted by patients. Advances in polymer material science, particle engineering design, manufacture, and nanotechnology have led the way to the introduction of several marketed controlled release products and several more are in pre-clinical and clinical development.

Voltammetric determination of cyproterone acetate in pharmaceutical preparations

The voltammetric behaviour of cyproterone acetate (CPA) was studied using direct current (DCt) and differential pulse polarography (DPP). The drug manifests cathodic waves over the pH range of 4-11.8. In Britton-Robinson buffer (BRb) of pH 10, the diffusion current-concentration relationship was found to be rectilinear over the range 3.2-32 μg/mL and 0.5-14 μg/mL using DCt and DPP modes, respectively, with minimum limits of detection (LOD) of 0.13 μg/mL using the DDP. The diffusion-current constant (Id) was 9.29 ± 0.046 (n=9). The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the studied compound in its formulations. The mean percentage recoveries in tablets were 99.48 ± 1.25 and 100.01 ± 1.07 (n=4) using DCt and DPP modes, respectively. The results obtained were in agreement with those of the reference method. A proposal for the electrode reaction was postulated.

Kinetic spectrophotometric determination of fluvastatin in pharmaceutical preparations

Simple, accurate and reliable kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of fluvastatin sodium (FVS) in pure form and pharmaceutical formulations has been described. The method is based on the formation of colored product between FVS and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD-Cl) in acetone medium at 55 ± 2ºC. The reaction is followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the increase in absorbance at 462 nm as a function of time. The rate data and fixed time methods were adopted for constructing the calibration curves. The linearity ranges were found to be 15.0-50.0 and 10.0-90.0 μg mL(-1) for rate data and fixed time methods, respectively. The limit of detection for rate data and fixed time methods is 0.017 and 0.134 μg mL(-1), respectively. The proposed methods have been successfully applied to the determination of fluvastatin sodium in pharmaceutical dosage forms with no interference from the excipients. Statistical comparison of the results shows that there is no significant difference between the proposed and official methods.

Quantitative determination of pravastatin in pharmaceutical dosage forms by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A simple, sensitive and precise high-performance liquid chromatographic formulations assay for pravastatin (PVS) is described. Good chromatographic separation was achieved using a Teknokroma C8 (5 μm, 25cm × 4.6mm) column and a mobile phase consisting of 10mM ammonium acetate: methanol: triethylamine (40:60:0.17 v/v/v) while at a flow-rate of 1.0 mL min(-1). PVS was detected at 239 nm and was eluted 2.15 min after injection. No endogenous substances were found to interfere. No internal standard was required. Linearity range for PVS was 0.4-1000 μg mL(-1). The determination of intra- and inter-day precision (RSD) was less than 2.94 and 2.97%, at all concentration levels. Statistical treatment of the experimental results indicates that the method is precise and accurate. The proposed method was applied to the determination of the component in commercial tablets with no interference from the excipients. A comparative study between the suggested procedure and the pharmacopoeial method for this compound in the tablets showed no significant difference between the two methods.